Dental Assisting

This course introduces the student to dental terminology that will be used throughout the program and will help students learn the correct pronunciation and proper application of each term as it relates to specific dental procedures. It will also provide the student with the skills necessary to interpret and understand dental terminology, in order to be successful in the dental setting.

EHIT 1020 - Dental Law and Ethics

30 Hours

This course provides the student exposure to the legal and ethical issues that impact the dental office. Students will be required to understand and demonstrate proper ethics etiquette and protocol within a dental setting. They will understand HIPAA regulations and take a test to receive their HIPAA certificate. In addition, students will learn about the Dental Practice Act and be able to navigate the Department of Public Licensing (DOPL) website.

EHIT 1250 - Therapeutic Communications for Health Professionals

30 Hours

This course will provide the student with the basic principles of psychology required in a healthcare environment including the identification of developmental stages of the life cycle, hereditary, cultural and environmental influences on behavior and mental health issues.

DENA 1100 - Anatomy and Physiology for Dental Assistants

30 Hours

Students in this course are provided an overview of human anatomy and physiology with an emphasis on the head and neck. Students will learn and be familiar with the terminology of body systems as they relate to the head and neck. Students will be able to identify and label specific anatomy of the head and neck.

DENA 1110 - Overview of Dental Assisting

60 Hours

Students in this course are provided with an introduction to dental administration and assisting in the professional dentistry field, as well as the different professional dental industry specialties.

EHIT 2070 - Dental Office Management

60 Hours

Students in this course learn the basic skills needed to perform administrative functions efficiently in a dental setting. Students will also learn the basic skills necessary to perform patient management, appointment and recall management, inventory control, and written communications.

EHIT 2082 - Dental Insurance and Medical Cross Coding

60 Hours

Dental Insurance and Medical Cross Coding helps students develop the basic skills necessary to perform proper insurance coding and billing procedures, including manual and electronic procedures. In this course, students will be introduced to medical-dental cross coding procedures, as well as ICD-10-CM, CPT, CDT, HCPCS and SNO-DDS Coding Systems.

EHIT 1800 - Dental Records

90 Hours

Students in this course learn to manage dental records through manual and electronic procedures. Students learn bookkeeping and financial functions, technology used in the dental office, electronic communications, telecommunications, and electronic dental records management and storage.

WKSK 1400 - Workplace Relations

60 Hours

This course will help you develop essential human-relation skills needed to maintain gainful and satisfying employment. It includes familiarization with problematic areas found in the workforce including: presenting yourself professionally, developing a professional work ethic, developing interpersonal skills, winning at office politics, and planning and managing your career.

WKSK 1500 - Job Seeking Skills

30 Hours

Students in this course will learn to prepare and successfully apply to potential career opportunities. Students will be presented with essential job-seeking skills needed to find gainful employment.

DENA 1040 - Dental Assisting Clinical Procedures I

30 Hours

This course discusses dental assisting as a profession and the individuals filling the many roles in a dental practice, along with exploring the many specialties found within dentistry. The student will study the prenatal development and composition and structure of the oral cavity as well as terms associated with the teeth.

DENA 1065 - Dental Assisting Clinical Lab II

60 Hours

Students in this course will learn basic disease concepts and infection control measures as per OSHA regulations. This course describes microbiology and pathology related to disease transmission. Students will learn the importance and application of MSDS sheets in the classroom and dental office. Students will be required to demonstrate safety competency through written testing of safety rules for the dental treatment and sterilization areas. Students will learn exposure control and aseptic procedures.

DENA 1070 - Dental Assisting Clinical Lab III

90 Hours

Students in this course will learn basic dental procedures, instruments used in each procedure, and dental burs. Students will demonstrate understanding of dental terminology used in dental procedures and develop chair side skills. Infection control techniques will be learned and continued from Dental Assisting Clinical Lab II.

DENA 2060 - Dental Radiology

90 Hours

This course meets the Utah State Dental Board requirement for non-licensed personnel x-ray certification and discusses methods to protect the patient and operator from the harmful effects of exposure to radiation. Students will learn the correct methods to expose, process, mount and store patient radiographs.

DENA 1080 - Dental Assisting Clinical Lab IV

60 Hours

Student in this course will learn how to manage medical emergencies that may occur in the dental office. Students will also be introduced to advanced/expanded functions of dental procedures and prevention of dental disease and oral health education.

DENA 1095 - Dental Assisting Clinical Lab VI

90 Hours

This course describes in-depth specialty procedures as they relate to general dentistry. The students will learn and practice assisting during each procedure. They will show competence in preparing each tray setup for the specialty procedure and then demonstrate how to assist during each procedure. This course allows the student to practice the chairside skills. Because all the treatment procedures for each dental specialty will be practiced in detail, students must schedule specific time with their instructor and schedule time in the dental treatment rooms or lab area.

DENA 2200 - Dental Assisting Externship I

150 Hours

This course allows the dental assistant student the opportunity to demonstrate their clinical and administrative skills in a dental office setting. This is a non-paid externship where the student will be expected to perform as if they were on the job. The student may be rotated to different offices during this externship to benefit from additional experiences. The student will be learning under the supervision of a licensed dentist and an externship coordinator from DATC will come and observe and check-in with student on a regular basis. Student are expected to keep track of their hours and keep a journal which they will turn into the dental assisting lead instructor every 75 hours as they come in to report.

DENA 2300 - Dental Assisting Externship II

150 Hours

This course allows the dental assistant student the opportunity to continue to demonstrate their clinical and administrative skills in a dental office setting. This is a non-paid externship where the student will be expected to perform as if they were on the job. The student may be rotated to different offices during this externship to benefit from additional experiences. The student will be learning under the supervision of a licensed dentist and an externship coordinator from DATC will come and observe and check-in with student on a regular basis. Student are expected to keep track of their hours and keep a journal which they will turn into the dental assisting lead instructor every 75 hours as they come in to report. Students must have completed all Dental Assisting course work prior to enrolling in this course.